The Help

The #1 New York Times bestselling novel and basis for the Academy Award-winning film.

Aibileen is a black maid in 1962 Jackson, Mississippi, who's always taken orders quietly, but lately she's unable to hold her bitterness back. Her friend Minny has never held her tongue but now must somehow keep secrets about her employer that leave her speechless. White socialite Skeeter just graduated college. She's full of ambition, but without a husband, she's considered a failure. Together, these seemingly different women join together to write a tell-all book about work as a black maid in the South, that could forever alter their destinies and the life of a small town...

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This has been favorite book ever! It's a must read especially before you watch the movie!! This author did a phenomenal job of character development and keeping my interest from the first to last page!

The Help is a wonderful book that everyone should read. It's the kind of book that makes you care so much about the characters that you have to keep reading. The Help mentions historical people, such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks, and uses actual places to recreate a period in American history that feels absolutely real. You genuinely will love the three main characters and all of their flaws. If you want to read about human compassion and determination though unfair and hard times, I strongly recommend you read this book.
- @BookThief of the Teen Review Board at the Hamilton Public Library

This book is riveting, read it in just 5 days even though it's 444 pages long. I'm still new to the idea of the color blind ideology in today's society, so I decided to start from the past. I didn't want to read nonfiction books that tells the life of Negroes before, but wanted more of a novel that holds more truth to it than it may seem.

Reading this book made me laugh when it tells talks about Minny's story and kind of sad that she endured domestic violence for so long just because she talks back to white folks. I thought Skeeter using Aibileen's son's idea was irritating since she kind of took another person's idea to make it through the writing industry, but then again if she didn't take that idea this whole book would have never been made. Last but not the least Aibileen was my favorite amongst the three, she was my hero and the one who I thought was the strongest while overcoming hardships in life in this story.

I loved the movie very much and decided to finally read the book, and I'm happy to say that I was not disappointed! One of my favorite things about this book, was reading from the three different peoples perspectives. I loved exploring and seeing the three main character's lives, unfolding. The movie is a must watch and the book is an even more so, must read! This book is intriguing, amusing, heartfelt and beautiful.

The Help is one of my favourite books. I loved the movie as well. The story is captivating and holds your attention for the entire book. The humor they used to alleviate the heavy topic was appreciated. It lightened the story and did not dwell on the tragedies bestowed on these women. I would definitely recommend this book.

I loved how the author wrote in three first-person voices (The two maids, Aibilene and Minny and Skeeter Phelan). Every time I finished a chapter I couldn’t wait to start the following one to hear what the next narrator had to say. I certainly loved the book and recommend it with enthusiasm!

For me, this is gold standard historical fiction; the book that can transport you back in time to a pivotal historical era. This book explores family and friendship dynamics and brings up key issues that are still important today.

I loved this story. I had watched the movie first, and it intrigued me enough to read the book. I usually always love the book better than the movie, and this was no different, but I do still love the movie. The book is set over a longer time line, so of course there are more details sub-plots, etc. in it. I highly recommend this book.

Summary

In the 1960's taking place in Jackson Mississippi, The most unlikely people become friends. Eugenia Phelan (aka Skeeter), Minny Jackson , and Aibileen, one white woman and two black. Together, through the craziest things possible, they take a risk... To make a change.

Skeeter is a white woman, Aibileen and Minny are black women and maids for other white women. They work together to write a book about the life of black maids working for the white women in Jackson, Mississippi.

Set in Mississippi during the 1960s, Skeeter is a southern girl who returns from college determined to become a writer, but turns her friends lives and a Mississippi town upside down when she decides to interview the black women who have spent their lives taking care of prominent southern families. Aibileen, Skeeter's best friend's housekeeper, is the first to open up to the dismay of her friends in the tight black town. Despite Skeeter lifelong friendships hanging in the balance, she and Aibileen continue their plan and soon more maids decides to tell their stories. It turns out, they have a lot to say. Along the way, unlikely friendships are forged and a new sisterhood emerges, but not before everyone in town has a thing or two to say themselves when they become caught up in the changing times

Twenty-two-year-old Skeeter has just returned home with a degree from Ole Miss , but her mother won't be happy until she has a ring on her finger. Aibileen is a black maid , a wise , regal woman raising her seventeenth white child. Minny , Aibileen's best friend , can cook like nobody's business , but she can't mind her tongue so she can't keep a job . It's 1962 , and these three ordinary women are about to take one extra-ordinary step that forever changes a town and the way women-mothers , daughters , caregivers , friends- view one another.